Iran accepts no obligation beyond JCPOA: AEOI chief

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, says no obligation beyond the historic nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries is acceptable to the Islamic Republic.

Iranian officials have repeatedly announced that the country would not accept any obligation other than those outlined in the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s (NPT) Additional Protocol, and the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Safeguards Agreement, Salehi told reporters on Monday.

He reiterated Iran’s compliance with all its commitments under the JCPOA, saying the IAEA is the only authorized body to make comments in this regard.

The AEOI chief warned of efforts by the US President Donald Trump's administration to undermine the JCPOA, saying it was making efforts to “incite” the IAEA to declare that Iran has violated the nuclear deal.

He noted that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had written a letter to the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano warning him of the US moves.

In a Wednesday letter to the IAEA chief, the Iranian foreign minister said the objectives of a recent visit by the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley to Vienna were “not in conformity with” the terms of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 regarding the Agency’s independence and the protection of sensitive information that Iran relays to the Agency.

Resolution 2231 was adopted on July 20, 2015 to endorse the JCPOA, reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany on July 14, 2015.

“Regrettably, the international community views this visit and its stated purpose of ‘pressing the Agency,’ as an overt and aggressive attempt by a permanent member of the Security Council — which is openly hostile toward the JCPOA and determined to undermine and destroy it — to put pressure on the Agency,” Zarif wrote.

Such activities, he said, would “undermine the independence and the credibility of the Agency’s work.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the head of the AEOI said, “Iran will never be the first party to violate the JCPOA and in case of any violation by the opposite side, necessary decisions will be taken in this regard.”

He added that rational settlement of the existing issues would lead to the preservation of the JCPOA.

Salehi’s comments came after Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Sunday that the Americans would not be able to impose their own demands on others, saying, “We have given necessary warnings to the Agency and made necessary recommendations and will continue this trend in the future.”

The IAEA is tasked with monitoring Iranian compliance with the deal, a basically technical matter that falls within the Agency’s area of expertise. The IAEA has consistently verified that Iran is in compliance since the implementation of the deal began in January 2016.